I read enough to understand theme and to get through CG. If things come up that I need to learn about then I'll delve back in, otherwise it's pretty much all fluff and shit.
What is the definition of read the books? From front cover to back? All the fluff? All the mechanics but no fluff. Just the mechanics you need to read?
It doesn't on how rules heavy, and how interested I am in playing by the rules.
When i run scenes, the most I want/expect is for people to read about what is on their sheet/what they are trying to do.
@wretched said in Do you read the book(s)?:
When i run scenes, the most I want/expect is for people to read about what is on their sheet/what they are trying to do.
It depends on what kind of mood I'm in. If I'm in the mood to teach people I don't care if they have read, as long as they listen to me when I explain the rules to them. If I'm expecting a fast combat and people have read what their merits do... well if I'm in a bad mood that might aggravated me.
Might not.
In my experience people will be nice and helpful if you:
The only thing that really grinds my gears is people who don't have the core book at all and who then, upon hearing of something they think sounds neat, demand to have it explained to them. (If you ever played in the Mage sphere on the Reach, I guarantee a particular examplar of this habit just sprang to mind.) It's one thing to need some help in getting a handle on the complexities of extended casting. It's something else again to be constantly asking what Matter 1 does or who the Guardians of the Veil are.
@autumn Happened on FC too in changeling, we had a couple people over the years just sorta ride the channels an basically try to have the sphere read the whole book to them. Like every aspect of the game. And I'm not saying 'asking questions on channel is bad' but after a certain point like, go read man.
I read them pretty voraciously, including the books that no one ever uses, random sourcebooks, etc. I'm surprised by how many people have read the corebook but missed big parts of the mechanics for things like combat, or just don't bother with them.
How often do you use the concealment and cover rules in combat scenes? How often do you see people using Willpower to add a +2 to defense for a single attack (so many folks don't even know they can do that)? What about Charging - you move twice your speed and stage an attack, but you lose defense - is that something you've used or seen used?
I'm the kind of nutter that even reads the fiction, depending on the book. Skinchangers, Promethean, the Lancea Sanctum book (that first story with Solomon Birch is gr8), Requiem for Rome, Changeling, and Slasher all have some real cool bits in there imo
I read, but I don't retain until I look-up-and-then-use something several times. It just doesn't happen. I don't remember rule details any way but repetition.
@autumn said in Do you read the book(s)?:
I guarantee a particular examplar of this habit just sprang to mind
Tis who I was thinking of just reading this thread.
I guess that it's sometimes could be important to read such rulebooks. As for me, sometimes it is very hard to catch up what the game supposed to be.
But to be honest, I have never read the rulebooks till the end LOL
I read everything that the game provides. The wiki, or helpfiles.
I'm not buying a book to play a Mu*. If the game doesn't provide enough detail for a new player, I'm out.
I've certainly purchased books or watched shows because of a game I was interested in (the 100 comes to mind, though I ended up sticking with the show but not that game). I have to be interested in the subject matter in the first place, though. If the book isn't appealing on it's own (or as a thing I'd play outside that one particular game) I generally don't play at all (which, of course, also means not reading).
@autumn Happened on FC too in changeling, we had a couple people over the years just sorta ride the channels an basically try to have the sphere read the whole book to them. Like every aspect of the game. And I'm not saying 'asking questions on channel is bad' but after a certain point like, go read man.
